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Just stumbled upon this article at the NY Times in which Michael Pollan compiled his twenty favourite reader-submitted rules for eating. Some of them are silly, some of them I don’t agree with, but some of them are very well put!

My favourites:

“When drinking tea, just drink tea.” […] – Michelle Poirot

Never eat something that is pretending to be something else; e.g. no “textured vegetable protein” or veggie burgers (fake meat), no artificial sweeteners, no margarine (fake butter), no “low fat” sour cream, no turkey bacon, no “chocolate-flavor sauce” that doesn’t contain chocolate, no “quorn.” If I want to have something that tastes like meat or butter, I would rather have the real thing than some chemical concoction pretending to be more healthful. – Sonya Legg

“It’s better to pay the grocer than the doctor” […] – John Forti

The Chinese have a saying: “Eat until you are seven-tenths full and save the other three-tenths for hunger.” That way, food always tastes good, and you don’t eat too much. – Nancy Ni

This last one reminds me of “eat and drink and be not immoderate,” (Qur’an, 7:31), and the hadith in which the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “Man fills no vessel worse than his stomach. It is sufficient for the son of Adam to have a few mouthfuls to give him the strength he needs. If he has to fill his stomach, let him leave one-third for food, one-third for drink, and one-third for air.” (Reported by Al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Maajah)

It’s the first day of Element CrossFit‘s 6-week Real Food Challenge! And I am completely exhausted! Haha. I’m doing Level 2 (Paleo + Zone)… or 3 (strict Paleo + Zone)? I’m not really sure yet. So far I have been pretty strict, but it’s only the first day! And technically I already used butter for some of my fat blocks. But only because I really had no other options. Today I’m going to the grocery store to pick up some olive oil, sunflower seeds, and almond butter. So the butter should be off the menu for a while. I’m doing 3x fat since my main goal isn’t to lose weight but to gain strength. 3x fat is harder than it sounds if you only have nuts and coconut oil. I am so sick of nuts already, haha.

I never realized how hard it is to plan a paleo/zone menu. I spent three hours last night figuring out today and tomorrow’s meals, let alone actually cooking them! Thankfully I made about 5 lbs of braised beef over the weekend, so I have a lot of leftovers to use up.

So I figured out what I’m eating today and tomorrow, and it was hard enough, so I think I’m going to try re-using the same meals for the rest of the week. Then over the weekend when I have more time, I’ll come up with some more meals, and then reuse the meals from both weeks. Each week I’ll add in some new meals and hopefully by the end of the 6 weeks, I should have a normal variety of foods (instead of beef stew every single day). Read More »

Workout:
@ 135 lbs (men), 95 lbs (women):
5 deadlifts
4 hang power cleans
3 front squats
2 push jerks
Every minute on the minute for 20 minutes.
(If you fall behind the pace, see how many rounds you can do in the remaining time.)
[Completed 20 rounds at 32 lbs. Probably could go heavier next time but it was nice to stay on pace for the whole workout. I had about 30 seconds rest in each minute.]

I tried a pull-up right before the workout, and I did it! Finally! And then I tried another one right after the workout, and I did that one too! (Although the second one was much uglier than the first one.) 😀 I did both of them with an underhand (chin-up) grip. I can’t do any with an overhand grip yet. I think my next goal will be to get kipping pull-ups, then at least 3 chin-ups in a row, and then I’ll work on getting overhand grip pull-ups. Read More »

CrossFit-itis: the overwhelming obsession with CrossFit and all things related to it.
Also known as: CrossFit-aholism, CFS (CrossFit Syndrome)

I have a confession to make: I have recently (and perhaps not so recently) been diagnosed with CrossFit-itis. I am currently dealing with this in the best way I know how (i.e. by not treating it at all and allowing it to spread), but I feel obliged to share some of the symptoms in case others are afflicted by this as well. Read More »

From an episode of Wife Swap:
Oh my God, the poor kid. I might only eat chicken bacon, but I would be pretty upset if some lady came into my house and started throwing it all away! I think this kid was beyond polite for this situation.

Paleo and Sri Lankan food totally don’t mix. I foresee a lot of trouble sticking to the diet on weekends (although I try my best) when I visit my parents (I don’t usually eat Sri Lankan food during the week). I know at least four people with the same problem, who can’t seem to eat paleo at all. This is why. The following are a list of major foods that my family traditionally eats daily with various curries (the majority of which are paleo, but eating curry without any of the following is just unheard of): Read More »